User talk:Hari singh
WJKF. There are two main articles on Guru Nanak Dev ji - one is Guru Nanak and the other is Guru Nanak Dev. The name needs to be 'standardised' so that all links go to one article - I'd suggest keeping the Guru Nanak heading. The content on the two needs to be amalgamted however. This probably also applies to Guru Angad, Guru Arjan etc I'll start on it sometime soon, but if you want to have a go, go for it. WJKF --Navroop Singh 02:35, 20 Apr 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Sysop Privledges
Hari Singh, You have been a very active user on SikhiWiki so I have assigned you as a "sysop" (System Operator) on SikhiWiki. This will allow you to edit "protected" pages (like the home page) and also do other administrative things as needed. It is great to have your involvement in this great project!
--WikiSysop 09:58, 21 Apr 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
References
WKJF. Good to meet a fellow East Londoner! I myself am based in Leyton, go to the local Leyton Gurdwara there, though have been many times to all the Gurdwaras in London 'specially down your Ilford/Seven Kings/East Ham way. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I've added a Wiki References template to make it easy to cite references in the correct format. If you look at the source code for the reference below you'll be able to copy and paste that (with changes) for any references you use! Is also sets up the ISBN link so readers who are further interested can purchase books for themselves. WJKF.
- Macauliffe, M.A (1909). The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus Sacred Writings and Authors. Low Price Publications. ISBN 8175361328.
--Navroop Singh 06:37, 23 Apr 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Mool Mantar
WJKF, of course I don't mind the article being added to! The more the merrier! The Mool Mantar is the most difficult composition to translate since it is a condensation of, in essence, the entire SGGS. Jap Ji Sahib is said to be an extrapolation of the Mool Mantar; Sukhmani Sahib a further extrapolation of Jap Ji Sahib and the rest of the SGGS is a further extrapolation on these. As a result, I can quite easily forsee separate articles for each term; a literal translation really doesn't do justice. The article is far from complete - the basic commentry there is by Dr.Santokh Singh, though I've added a point or two by Dr.Gopal Singh. I want to hopefully put up the sanskrit origins of the word and give a further commentry on each, plus put up any varying translations: Dr.Gopal Singh suggests that GurPrasad is one word and to be translated as just 'the Enlightener'. Plus there's also an article ik onkar whose contents need to be included here. WJKF --Navroop Singh 01:48, 26 Apr 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Raga
WJKF Hari Singh ji, I've seen what you've done with the Raag list, looks good! Instead of ranking Raags in order of appearence, would stating page ranges of the sections be better/also useful?--Navroop Singh 09:57, 27 Apr 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
WJKF, do you know why the Raags are in the order they're in? Is to do with the traditional Raag timings? Is it to do with Mood? Is it to do with scale? --Navroop Singh 13:04, 27 Apr 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Good Work!
You are doing a really great job on Sikhiwiki Hari Singh! I just wanted to let you know and thank you for being a big part of the SikhiWiki project. We have been watching every day as you and Navroop Singh add new content, re-organize and make things much better.
A few days ago we started featuring the "sikhiwiki featured article" on the SikhNet.com homepage and since then over 1,200 people have been coming to the site every day, which is great. We will continue to feature new articles on SikhNet as you add them. It would be great if one of you could update the featured article on the Sikhiwiki home page every week. Also email me and Joginder Singh when you do so that we can also update the SikhNet.com home page feature.
Thanks again and keep up the good work!
Gurumustuk Singh Khalsa
ps. If you know of others who might be interesting in helping with SikhiWiki please try to get them involved. The more people the more we can do.
--gmustuk 10:50, 6 May 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Do you review changes made by other people?
I wanted to know if you look at the changes that others make to articles? Another thing that would be helpfull is to have more people reviewing the changes that are made by people to prevent "trouble makers" (deleting content or accidentally erasing info that should be there) and also to ensure the quality of content.
I do look from time to time...but I'm not on the site as much as you because of my other duties at SikhNet --gmustuk 15:13, 6 May 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Article of the Week
WJKF, I've finished the Mool Mantar article, please have a look when you can (I've just got one more picture to add which I'll do this evening). I'd like to put it forward for the 'article of the week' feature - let me know if that's ok, or if you have another article in mind. --Navroop Singh 01:47, 9 May 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Sakhis
WJKF, Hari Singh ji, I see you're setting up a Sakhis cateogry - would it be possible to change '1st Guru Nanak' to 'Guru Nanak Sakhis' ? I think it's a more appropriate title - or even 'Guru Nanak Stories' --Navroop Singh 08:51, 9 May 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Ah, I've just realised that I've left my mobile at home - I'll try and return the call this evening.--Navroop Singh 09:12, 9 May 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Apologies I couldn't return your call yesterday, I got back quite late. Emal me your contact number, and I can give you a ring later on this evening.--Navroop Singh 02:37, 10 May 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Regarding Controversial Topics
Regarding your questions relating to controvresial topics (namdhari, etc)... I think the best approach is really to be as neutral as possible. Like a reporter which allows both sides to have their say so that it is unbiased. Making judgements is what causes trouble because there is always someone on the other side who doesn't agree or might take offense.
The key part of our guidelines is:
- Avoid bias. Articles should be written from a neutral point of view, representing differing views on a subject fairly and sympathetically.
Even if you don't agree with the person/information it is important to avoid bias. I know this first hand because I have grown up as a Sikh who also practices Yoga and Meditation. Many Sikhs who don't know much about the practice would be quick to make judgements. Who is right and who is wrong? It's all a matter of perspective and what the person knows.
Luckily we haven't had much controversy on SikhiWiki...but it is good to get really clear with our intention to be neutral and just provide information.
--gmustuk 19:33, 10 May 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Controversial Topics - reply
That is totally fine. There are many situations where it is good to get a few people's thoughts to make a balanced decision. I'm totally fine with you emailing me if you have questions or want input. If we had more active users...that would probably be what we would discuss in the "discussion" tab of the article. --gmustuk 05:49, 11 May 2005 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Bhagat Paintings
Hari Singh ji, for the Bhagat Paintings you've been adding, can we also include in the descriptions the relevant artists? This will in future help to build the Arts and Artists Cateogry. WJKF --Navroop Singh 04:59, 13 May 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Library
WJKF Hari Singh ji, have you been to Shepherd's Bush Gurdwara? Reason I ask is that I've been told/read somewhere that they have a very good and large Sikh Library - do you any anything about this?--Navroop Singh 09:14, 17 May 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Photos
If you are looking for particular pictures for articles you can use http://www.sikhphotos.com has a resource. If there are some images you want to use on Sikhiwiki just send me the photo caption names and I'll upload them.
Gurumustuk
New Wiki Features
--WikiSysop 23:00, 17 May 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Guru Nanak in Baghdad
no problem. The article is just a basic article, I've got to re-write a lot of it, and add some more of the actual history and evidence. If you look at tourist info for Baghdad, you'll nearly always find mention of Guru Nanak's shrine! Also, unfortunately, it appears that some of the shrine has been damaged due to the Iraq war. If I can get the article finsihed then may consider putting it as article of the week, otherwise, as you suggested the SGGS may be a good one. For the following week we need to get the Akal Takhat article finished and put up! WJKF --Navroop Singh 17:13, 20 May 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Article of the Week
WJKF Hari Singh ji, What do you think should be article of the week? We can have the SGGS article, or the Guru Nanak in Baghdad; next week will be the Akal Takht article. --Navroop Singh 03:43, 23 May 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
New Article of the Week
After a few minutes, I've decided to put the Guru Nanak in Baghdad article up - I think fewer people have heard of the existence of the stone slab and shrine etc and I think younger people will be more intrigued by it? Hopefully it'll get a good response. --Navroop Singh 04:35, 23 May 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Pages in different "Namespace"
Any help or any pages that are not really the SikhWiki educational articles should go under a different namespace. For example..
The help documents should go under the "help" namespace. http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php?title=Help:Contents
You can see the pages and what namespace they are in at: http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php?title=Special:Allpages
There are some older ones like copyright and other things like that which I did not setup in the right namespace and are just general articles. We can move those to a page in the right namespace.
--Gmustuk 12:19, 2 Jun 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Akal Takhat : Article of the Week?
WJKF, Hari Singh ji, should I put up the Akal Takhat article as 'article of the week'? I've changed the spellings of Takht to Takhat to keep it consistent. I think the article's pretty much finished - I didn't want to go into detail on topics such as Guru Arjan Dev ji's Martyrdom or Guru Hargobind ji's life, because they will have their own detailed articles. I think maybe a bit more can be written on the modern day role of the Akal Takhat, but apart from that I think it's ok. --Navroop Singh 08:20, 6 Jun 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Help!
WJKF Hari Singh ji, I need some help! I'm trying to do some HTML formatting - what I want it to have the (english) gurbani quotes stand out in the context of an article. So far my meagre attempts have produced this : Guru Nanak and the Sacred Thread and it's not very impressive. I want subtle colouring of background and text, with a simple border; for a bit more fancy look I wanted to include a pair of quotation marks graphic which would go in the corners around the box which would contain the text...does that make sense?--Navroop Singh 03:28, 8 Jun 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Quotation
Thanks Hari Singh! Most appreciated. I've been experimenting with the colours, not sure if I've got it right..Is it possible to have a top row in the box where the reference can be put in - i.e Raag Gujari, Mahala X, p.XXX SGGS - that type of info?--Navroop Singh 03:42, 9 Jun 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Quotation Boxes
WJKF, Hari Singh ji, I've had a quick look at your experiments and they look very good. I think we'll need to keep two boxes: One will be the main box which shows the reference, and the other is the same but without reference - this is in caseshabad with commentary te an article intersperses portions of one continuing xt. Many thanks!--Navroop Singh 05:07, 13 Jun 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
13 June 2005 - Article of the Week
It's that time of the week again(!) Akal Takhat article hasn't notched up as many hits as the Guru Nanak in Baghdad article; I think this is basically because Urdu on a Sikh website is a more intriguing link! I think the Guru Nanak in Tibet article can be put up as article of the week - I've rejigged the article a bit, and added some pictures, I should hopefully be getting some more pictures later on to add (hopefully of Gurdwara Pattar Sahib and scenic pics of Guru Longmar Lake). Is this an OK choice? or do you have any other article in mind--Navroop Singh 05:07, 13 Jun 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Articles
Looks like we made a same-time posting there! I've been a bit slack on the Dasam Granth article - I've still got some more bits to add to the 'Controversy' section + I'm still trying to get permission for use of some pics of old Dasam Granth Birs, but I'm not getting any response! SGGS article is looking good, but I think we should give the Guru Nanak in Tibet article a go. I was going to say something about the Japji Sahib articles, but I've forgotten - shall post later --Navroop Singh 05:22, 13 Jun 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
New Pic added
I've just added a pic of the boulder @ Pattar Sahib to the Guru Nanak in Tibet article - should I use this as the main pic on the front page? Or is it ok as is? i.e is it better than the footprint pic? --Navroop Singh 08:00, 13 Jun 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Japji Sahib Article
WJKF, Hari Singh ji, I think what you're doing with the Japji Sahib article is great, if we can get it finished for next week, it's more than worthy for article of the week. Being able to access individual pauris is very very useful, plus allows for dicussion on the transaltion of each pauri.
I have an excellent summary of Japji Sahib by Harbans Singh Doabia which I think should replace the full translation on the current article - the full translation will be under the individual pauri articles. I think that'll make the article more tidy, but also split into two levels for people who want general knowledge about Japji Sahib and people who want a more detailed understanding.
Are you planning to also split the audio track so that there'll be individual audio tracks for each pauri? I think that'll also be very useful for a form of Santhia learning.
Another thing which I would suggest is that on each of the pauri pages, to have the original Gurmukhi, along with the pronounciation and the english translation. Putting up the Gurmukhi will take time - another problem may be that it gets too 'crowded', may want to look at possibly having a column layout with one for Gurmukhi, one for pronounciation and one for translation.
Summary : Excellent work! This'll be a template for the standard of all the 'Bani articles'!--Navroop Singh 05:02, 14 Jun 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Japji Sahib Pauris contd...
The work by Harbans Singh is a summary and not a translation (though he has done a translation as well) i.e it gives the message of each pauri or groups of pauris rather than line by line translation. Unfortunately I don't have it with me and don't have it electronically. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if you already have it or find someone who has it - it's a gurmukhi-english Gutka called 'Sacred Nitem' and just before he starts Japji Sahib he gives a summary.
I'll get back to you on Pauri 24.
I haven't got much time at the moment so I'll get back to you later on the other points of layout etc...--Navroop Singh 06:27, 14 Jun 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
New Article
The Sikhnet frontpage has changed - I think Ash Singh changed it on recieving my email regarding the Guru Nanak in Nepal article, so I've changed the SIkhiWiki page as a result; the Sikhnet office will be closed for a week or so, so it's next week's article a little bit early--Navroop Singh 07:44, 17 Jun 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
Thank You
Thank for your comments and your words of welcome.
I am more of a trivia buff and informal student of history than an expert. But I will see what I can do.
I know the history of the Mughals is complicated--and often problematic, especially in the terms of relations with the Sikh community and especially during Aurangzeb's time. But it is often difficult to separate the facts from what people believe happened. I hope we can all keep trying to find the truth.
Rab Rakha,
—IFaqeer 15:56, 6 Jul 2005 (Central Daylight Time)
